Fate and Burning Flames
by blackhairedravenclaw
Summary: Rose, a fifth year Ravenclaw who knows the Golden Trio on a small smile and quick wave basis, is plunged back into the world of Regulus Arcturus Black and attempts to play a game with fate herself. Regulus x OC reader.
1. Epilogue

_To The Dark Lord,_

 _I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more._

 _R.A.B_

Rose tugged her coat around her bare arms, desperately tucking away strands of hair that had come loose and drifted with the wind which blew too harshly for it to be appreciated. She'd always wondered why people only considered things that were temporary or weak or almost diluted to be beautiful. Like the nature of its existence needed to be dulled down to the pale grey we were all so used to, otherwise, it would strain our eyes, make us squint, glazing it all over with a blur so we can't comprehend it, so we insult it rather than marvel at it because it's not quite in focus. So we mock instead of adjust the lens. But on this particular night, it was not the array of purple and navy littered against the night sky that held her attention, but a small note discarded on the floor that had been caught in between her toes. She dusted her fingers over the faded ink, intrigued by the strength and courage behind the words but the shaky strokes piecing them together. It's almost as if guilt or even shame was eating the writer's flesh at that very moment. She knew what that felt like. But as she read the last three letters, a twisting cone of light emerged from the centre of the note, but a hologram of moving pictures quickly materialised in front of her, flicking through the life of a boy with silvery skin and grey eyes who seemed to be in every image. Rose sunk onto the ground and crossed her legs, watching his life be diminished into an album of perfectly curated images featuring the tightening of his smile into a stoic gaze and the disappearance of a boy with broad shoulders, a half smile, the iconic romantic era poet haircut and a raised chin, who initially had a firm grasp on the smiling boy's shoulder. Just as the slow flicking reached what seemed to be a rather somber birthday, footsteps were making their way up the astronomy tower, and Rose shoved the piece of parchment in her coat pocket and attempted to make the contraption disappear, but just as the tip of her wand tapped his cheekbone, the entire image rippled and pulled her into the hazy black of a burned circle on the wallpaper behind him.


	2. Chapter 1

When Rose opened her eyes, she saw the starry night sky yet again, except, its edges had been dipped in red and gold. It was on the cusp of morning. She probably fainted, that's the most logical conclusion, and now, it was time for her to sneak back into bed before her roommates dragged themselves out of bed. Too caught up in her grand plan to slip back unnoticed, she was unaware of the squinted grey eyes and furrowed eyebrows trained on her every move.

"It's calming isn't it?"

The voice frightened Rose, because the ones she could hear coming from an unseen source were the ones that hurt her the most. But, the tone was soft, the question with no ulterior motives at that moment. It was almost gentle. Almost. This reasoning prodded her to respond to the grey eyed boy she knew felt like she knew. But not in the milk and a single sugar sort of knowing, the, you are exhausted and beautiful and slightly sad sort of knowing. I wish I could hold you together while you picked out the parts of yourself you didn't want anymore sort of knowing. She needed to stop thinking about him like this, after all, she was too dull to ever be thought about with such understanding or at least with an incessant desire to understand. The way she felt about people she'd barely glanced at could never be reciprocated. She never drew glances anyway.

"I really do like the sky. I like how messy it is, almost as if its been strung together by the fingers of the exhausted, the late shifters, the ones with glazed eyes closing every now and then, hoping the sky doesn't notice the skewed distribution of the stars or how there's too much pale pink and not enough orange in the setting of the sun. Its little parts aren't quite right but when you throw it all together, it cannot be imagined as anything else. And even through all of these little strokes of paint and pieces that weren't meant to be, it's still appreciated by those who are willing to look." She added.

One look at his face after a silence that wasn't quite awkward, yet not particularly comfortable, made her try to retrieve all the words that tumbled out of her sleep deprived mouth.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry! I tend to ramble about the most insignificant things when I haven't gotten enough sleep or when I'm thinking way too much. I really am sorry, I hate doing that. It makes me sound so bloody obnoxious. Where even are we? It's too warm to be the astronomy tower. Actually, this sort of looks like the Ravenclaw common room, minus the caffeinated and wide eyed teenagers and the constant scratching of quills and the occasional scrunching of paper."

"Why don't you sleep very much?"

Rose smiled. That's really the only detail he picked up on apparently.

"Too much to do, too much to think, too much to be, am I right? But really, where are we?"

"Room of requirement." The boy said rather bluntly, almost as if he was ashamed of what the room had turned into, what his needs really were.

Rose decided by the aversion of his gaze that she shouldn't ask why he was here. After all, she had no clue why she ended up here either.

"What's your name then?"

"Regulus. Regulus Black."

Black… that sounded so familiar to her.

"Oh god, Sirius." Her voice cracked when she remembered hearing the explanation as to why the Chosen One was so pale, so quiet and on the odd occasion that he spoke, so snappy last year.

"Yes, everyone seems to make a link to me eventually. But it always does start with my older brother." Regulus muttered bitterly.

Rose went quiet. That wasn't what she intended, and now she felt like she'd hurt someone she'd been so desperate to hold a few minutes ago when she watched what his life became. That flicking of black and grey.

 _Why does I always hurt the people I'm supposed to care for? She thought._

 _I guess it runs in the family, she added._

"I'm sorry." They both said simultaneously.

"Why am I having such a conversation with a stranger? This is by far the most peculiar situation I've ever been in. Who are you? How did you get here, I swear I've never seen you around here before." Regulus asked.

 _I don't think you'd notice if I did attend Hogwarts with you._

"My name's Rose. And honestly, I have no idea how I got here.

"Rose." He repeated, rolling the name around his tongue, getting used to the feel of it.

"You should probably talk to Professor Dumbledore Rose. He'd probably shed light on the… situation. He's a good man."

"You're probably the only Slytherin to think that." She mumbled.

Regulus chuckled.

"Maybe so. But we're not all bad."

"I know." She whispered, the sentence hitting a little too close to a cut that hadn't healed just yet.

"I should probably make my way over there now, get this whole issue sorted." Rose continued, making her voice a little firmer.

Regulus just sent her a quick nod. He was already in another place. He had the tendency to wade in the fantasies he created when it was too silent.


End file.
